Kevin's Watch

This is a partial plot of a (possible) 1960s Ace Double story with an unknown title and author.

An electrical engineer (circa 1960s) is climbing in the mountains when he is suddenly transported to another planet. The planet is (or seems to be) completely deserted, but contains the remnants of an amazingly advanced civilization which somehow vanished. Most of the technology is still functioning. Then the engineer finds that he is not alone after all as he encounters an alien being who has been there longer and has more information, but who was also transported there from another planet. Meanwhile, the engineer occasionally thinks he hears voices, speaking in English, somewhere in the distance, but can never find the source.

The task of the engineer is to figure out how he got there and how to get back to Earth.

Stumped? Here's another science fiction story synopsis, with an unknown author and name.

Earth, present day.

The Sun's orbit around the center of our galaxy drags the Earth out of the "shadow" of a ray of unknown origin that beams out from the center of the Milky Way. This ray had the effect of dumbing down the IQs of every human, but now, outside of the ray's effect, they are now geniuses with astounding intellects.

Nice to see you around. Neither of those ring any bells though I'm afraid.

--A

How about this one then? A science fiction author is sitting alone in a cabin in an isolated area trying to think up an idea for a story. As soon as one comes to him, there is a quite unexpected knock on the front door. When he opens the door, standing in front of him is a Martian, green, short, and bald as a billiard ball.

Nope, but it does remind me of "The last man on earth sat alone in a room. There was a knock on the door."

--A

Avatar wrote:Nope, but it does remind me of "The last man on earth sat alone in a room. There was a knock on the door."

--A

That would have been an easy read and made for the world's shortest book review for English class. The book I was talking about is called "Martians Go Home" and it was written by Fredric Brown.

Here's another one to stump the one person who reads this thread:

An asteroid known affectionately as "the potato" arrives in Earth's solar system. The US and Russia then fight for dominance over it.

Haha, mine was a short sci-fi story "Knock", written by Fredric Brown. Aliens arrive and wipe out everything except 1 pair of every species.

Your last is a Greg Bear story...uh....Eco?

--A

Avatar wrote:Haha, mine was a short sci-fi story "Knock", written by Fredric Brown. Aliens arrive and wipe out everything except 1 pair of every species.

Your last is a Greg Bear story...uh....Eco?

--A

No, but you did get the author right.

Think I read it long ago.

--A

Greg Bear's novel was called

Eon

.

I used to be really good at this sort of trivia, but I think my brain deleted a bunch of files.

TheWormoftheWorld'sEnd wrote:How about this one then? A science fiction author is sitting alone in a cabin in an isolated area trying to think up an idea for a story. As soon as one comes to him, there is a quite unexpected knock on the front door. When he opens the door, standing in front of him is a Martian, green, short, and bald as a billiard ball.

Reminds me of a short story I read where an advanced alien civilization visits the US to extend an offer of galactic uplifting in mid april. It's either tax day or shortly before. The man he extends the offer to, something like a mayor or sheriff, is busy with his taxes and extremely upset, so he sends the alien packing with some comment like "get the hell out and don't come back."

So the alien assumes that their offer has been rejected, and the alien federation decides not to visit earth ever again, in accordance with their wishes.

I do like stories like that. There's a lot of humour in that "golden age" sci-fi.

--A

TheWormoftheWorld'sEnd wrote:This is a partial plot of a (possible) 1960s Ace Double story with an unknown title and author.

An electrical engineer (circa 1960s) is climbing in the mountains when he is suddenly transported to another planet. The planet is (or seems to be) completely deserted, but contains the remnants of an amazingly advanced civilization which somehow vanished. Most of the technology is still functioning. Then the engineer finds that he is not alone after all as he encounters an alien being who has been there longer and has more information, but who was also transported there from another planet. Meanwhile, the engineer occasionally thinks he hears voices, speaking in English, somewhere in the distance, but can never find the source.

The task of the engineer is to figure out how he got there and how to get back to Earth.

And he finds a map with a city called Lys on it? And there is an underground conveyance that uses peristalsis?? I was young and I had to look the word up.

Danged if I remember the author though...

"The Sun's orbit around the center of our galaxy drags the Earth out of the "shadow" of a ray of unknown origin that beams out from the center of the Milky Way. This ray had the effect of dumbing down the IQs of every human, but now, outside of the ray's effect, they are now geniuses with astounding intellects."

Oh wow, I read this a very long time ago, but I can't for the life of me remember the title or author.

Condign wrote:"The Sun's orbit around the center of our galaxy drags the Earth out of the "shadow" of a ray of unknown origin that beams out from the center of the Milky Way. This ray had the effect of dumbing down the IQs of every human, but now, outside of the ray's effect, they are now geniuses with astounding intellects."

Oh wow, I read this a very long time ago, but I can't for the life of me remember the title or author.

Hmmm...in a way, though reversed?? or my memory misleads, cuz my brain says Earth gets exposed to the ray after 23 million years without it...some other weirdness in recall, but still, this SEEMS a bit like Radix. [which was only book one of 4].
Freaking LOVED that book.

TheWormoftheWorld'sEnd wrote:Stumped? Here's another science fiction story synopsis, with an unknown author and name.

Earth, present day.

The Sun's orbit around the center of our galaxy drags the Earth out of the "shadow" of a ray of unknown origin that beams out from the center of the Milky Way. This ray had the effect of dumbing down the IQs of every human, but now, outside of the ray's effect, they are now geniuses with astounding intellects.

The book was called Brain Wave and the author is Poul Anderson.

TheWormoftheWorld'sEnd wrote:This is a partial plot of a (possible) 1960s Ace Double story with an unknown title and author.

An electrical engineer (circa 1960s) is climbing in the mountains when he is suddenly transported to another planet. The planet is (or seems to be) completely deserted, but contains the remnants of an amazingly advanced civilization which somehow vanished. Most of the technology is still functioning. Then the engineer finds that he is not alone after all as he encounters an alien being who has been there longer and has more information, but who was also transported there from another planet. Meanwhile, the engineer occasionally thinks he hears voices, speaking in English, somewhere in the distance, but can never find the source.

The task of the engineer is to figure out how he got there and how to get back to Earth.

Shock Wave by Walt & Leigh Richmond